Door closer



G- WARTIAN Nov. 19, 1963 DO0R`CLOSER Filed Nov. 6, 1961 iialW#naw/VIVA'.

INVENTOR.

United States Patent O 3,119,924 DQQR @MEER George War-lian, EastDetroit, Mich. Wartian Lock Co., 20525 E. Nine Mile Road, St. ClairShores, Mich.) Filed Nov. 6, i961, Ser. No. 150,268 2 Claims. Cl. 1li-52) This invention relates to a door closer and has particular referenceto a door closer in which a piston is adapted to compress a spring asthe door is opened and in which the rate of closing of the door iscontrolled by forcing a [liquid trapped behind the piston through arestricted bleed orifice. The construct-ion of the present door closeris such that the hydraulic liquid is contained within 'the cylinder ononly one side of the piston and does no-t flow through the piston orvalve devices carried by the piston, thereby eliminating the need for aseal between the cylinder and the piston rod which is attached to thedoor.

A principal object of the invention lis to provide a new and improvedspring actuated hydraulically regulated door closer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a door closer which issimple in construction and eloien't in operation.

A further yobject of the invention is to provide a door closer having animproved means of regulating the closing movement of the door.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent rom thefol-lowing description and claims and may be understood by reference tothe accompanying drawing, which by way of illustration shows a preferredembodiment of the invention and what l now consider to be the best modeof applying the principles thereof. Other embodiments of the inventionmay be used without departing from the scope of the present invention`as set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. l is a side elevational view of the doo-r closer;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken yon line 2--2 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3 3 of FlG. 4; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on lin-e 4-4 of FIG. 2.

The door closer comprises a housing itl having a hinge member l2projecting from one end thereof and adapte to receive a pin i4 forpivotally connecting the housing lll to a bracket lo secured to the doorframe i3. The housing defines a reservoir 2? adapted to contain a supplyof liquid such as oil and is provided with a Cover plate 22 securedthereto in any suitable manner. ie housing further includes a boss 2dprojecting downwardly from its bottom wall at one end thereof. The bossis provided with a cavity deiining a valve chamber 26 which is threadedat its outer end to receive the inner end of a cylinder 28 in the formof a cylindrical tube. A piston Btl is reciprocable within the cylinder2S and includes a washer 32 secured thereto by a rivet 3d on the end ofthe pis-ton rod 36, The piston rod 3o projects through the end Zcap 3Son the outer end `of the cylinder .Z5 and is pivotally connected to abracket il by mean-s of a pin d2. The bracket lil is secured to the door19, although it will be apparent that the housing could be mounted onthe door and the piston rod mounted on the door frame ii desired.

A passage 44 provides communication between the reservoir Ztl and thevalve chamber. A valve seat Li6 is formed around the passage 4dwhere thelatter enters the chamber 2,6. A valve member d is slidable axiallywithin the chamber 26 and is provided with a restricted opening l!therein in line with the passage 44. The valve member 48 is providedwith a series of notches 52 in its 3,1 W392i Patented Nov. i9, i963 iceouter periphery defining passages for the unrestricted ow of liquid pastthe valve member 41S into the inner end of the cylinder 2S when thevalve member d is disengaged from the valve seat d6, as shown in thedrawing.

When the door is opened the piston 3d will be moved by the piston rod35l outwardly through the cylinder 2S against the force of the spring 5dwhich is conlined between the piston 3d and the end leap 3d, thusproviding a predetermined resistance to opening movement oi the door.The movement of the piston through the cylinder will reduce the pressurewithin the valve chamber 26 suiciently to pull the valve member 48 awayfrom the valve seat 46 so as to permit substantially unrestricted flowof oil from the reservoir 261 through passage 4.4 and around valvemember d8 into the left-hand end of the cylinder' 28.

When the door is released, the spring 54 will force piston Se to theleft and the increased pressure in the valve chamber 26 will `force thevalve member i8 into engagement with its valve seat d6, thereby closingthe unrestricted communication between the reservoir 2d and the valvechamber. The liquid thus trapped in the lefthand end of the cylinder 28and the valve chamber 26 can escape only through the bleed orifice Sil'thereby controlling the rate of closing movement of the door.'

A baille 6d, which is arcuate in cross section as shown in FlG. 2, islocated in the bottom of the reservoir Ztl and is provided withelongated cut-out portions 62 at each side thereof. The upper end of thepassage 44 opens into the space beneath the battle 6d and the oilreturning through lthe passage 44 is prevented by the baille 6d frombeing ejected directly against the underside of the cover plate 2,2. Theicover plate 2,2 is provided with a vent passage 61E communicating withthe reservoir 2li. The bali-le d@ prevents the returning liquid frompossibly being discharged through the vent passage del and insures thatthe yliquid above `the baille 6i) will be in a relatively quiescentstate.

lt will be seen that the present invention provides a relatively simpledevice of very few parts but which is very eidcient in operation andwill accurately regulate the rate Koff closing of the door. By viL ue ofthe valve construction used herein the oil is prevent-ed by the seal 312from reaching the right-hand end of the cylinder 2S and there istherefore no need for a seal between the piston rod 36 and the outer endof the cylinder. The opening in the end cap 38 through which the pistonrod extends may be large enough to provide an air vent for theright-hand end of the cylinder.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is understood that this is capable of modication, and Itherefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth butdesire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall withinthe purview of the following claims.

I claim:

l. A door closer comprising a housing having a valve chamber therein, acylinder having one end threaded into and communicating with said valvechamber and extending outwardly from said housing, a piston reciprocablein said cylinde a piston rod secured to said piston and projectingthrough the other end of said cylinder, a spring urging said pistontoward said one end of said cylinder, a liquid reservoir 4in saidhousing, a passage in said housing between said reservoir and said valvechamber, a valve seat at one end of said valve chamber around saidpassage and opposed to said one end of said cylinder, a discshaped valvemember slidably mounted in said valve chamber and having a 'restrictedopening therethrough aligned with said passage, said valve member beingengageable with said valve seat as said piston moves toward lsaid yoneend of said cylinder whereby the liquid trapped in said cylinder isdischarged back to said reservoir through said restricted opening toregulate movement of said piston toward said one end orf said cylinder,said valve member having notches in its periphery and being movable awayfrom said valve seat in response te the suction created by movement ofsaid piste-n toward the other end of said cylinder thereby to open saidpassage to permit unrestricted 110W of liquid from said reservoir intosaid cylinder, and means on said ltiousinfy and on the outer end o-f thesaid piston rod for pivotaily mounting one of such members on a doorlframe and the other on a door.

2. A door closer according to claim 1 including a baffle extendingacross the bottom of said reservoir, said balie overlying the opening ofsaid passage into said reservoir and being spaced frorntlie botto-rnWall of said reservoir to define a space finto which the liquidreturning from said cylinder' is discharged.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,386,196 Munn Aug. 2, 1921 1,898,609 Anderson Feb. 2l, 1933 1,931,178Carlson Oct. 17, 1933 2,239,112 Nickelsen Apr. 22, 1941 2,446,901Blaisdell et al e Aug. 10, 1948 2,496,166 Keller Jan. 31, 195()2,722,289 Girard Nov. 1, 1955 2,953,810

Hail Sept. 27, 1960

1. A DOOR CLOSER COMPRISING A HOUSING HAVING A VALVE CHAMBER THEREIN, ACYLINDER HAVING ONE END THREADED INTO AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID VALVECHAMBER AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID HOUSING, A PISTON RECIPROCABLEIN SAID CYLINDER, A PISTON ROD SECURED TO SAID PISTON AND PROJECTINGTHROUGH THE OTHER END OF SAID CYLINDER, A SPRING URGING SAID PISTONTOWARD SAID ONE END OF SAID CYLINDER, A LIQUID RESERVOIR IN SAIDHOUSING, A PASSAGE IN SAID HOUSING BETWEEN SAID RESERVOIR AND SAID VALVECHAMBER, A VALVE SEAT AT ONE END OF SAID VALVE CHAMBER AROUND SAIDPASSAGE AND OPPOSED TO SAID ONE END OF SAID CYLINDER, A DISCSHAPED VALVEMEMBER SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID VALVE CHAMBER AND HAVING A RESTRICTEDOPENING THERETHROUGH ALIGNED WITH SAID PASSAGE, SAID VALVE MEMBER BEINGENGAGEABLE WITH SAID VALVE SEAT AS SAID PISTON MOVES TOWARD SAID ONE ENDOF SAID CYLINDER WHEREBY THE LIQUID TRAPPED IN SAID CYLINDER ISDISCHARGED BACK TO SAID RESERVOIR THROUGH SAID RESTRICTED OPENING TOREGULATE MOVEMENT OF SAID PISTON TOWARD SAID ONE END OF SAID CYLINDER,SAID VALVE MEMBER HAVING NOTCHES IN ITS PERIPHERY AND BEING MOVABLE AWAYFROM SAID VALVE SEAT IN RESPONSE TO THE SUCTION CREATED BY MOVEMENT OFSAID PISTON TOWARD THE OTHER END OF SAID CYLINDER THEREBY TO OPEN SAIDPASSAGE TO PERMIT UNRESTRICTED FLOW OF LIQUID FROM SAID RESERVOIR INTOSAID CYLINDER, AND MEANS ON SAID HOUSING AND ON THE OUTER END OF THESAID PISTON ROD FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING ONE OF SUCH MEMBERS ON A DOORFRAME AND THE OTHER ON A DOOR.